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Customer Reviews

The best beginner book for BlenderApril 6, 2011by John

While only playing once and a while with Blender, you quickly might forget the shortcuts and how things are working. This is a great textbook to keep them remembering, and to make use of them, with great examples. As it is written for the latest Blender version, I was also taken into the new GUI, which is really a step forward, and the textbook explains quick and nicely how it works. For me is this must have, next to another few other ones I've regarding Blender.

Summary

Blender has become one of the most popular 3D/Animation tools on the market - with 3.4 million + users, and it is free!

This is a guide to using the Open Source 3D program Blender. It is designed to teach one the basics of creating with Blender by developing with a specific scene with many of the elements needed in a large number of 3D scenes.

Blender Foundations will be the definitive resource on creating 3D art with Blender. The book comes directly from the Blender Foundation's Roland Hess, noted Blender expert and author. Hess walks animators through the entire process. Learn the basics starting with the interface, modeling tools, sculpting, materials and texturing and moving to the new features: nodes system, lighting, scene management, object and character animation, customizing Blender to your work flow, rendering, compositing and video editing.

Artists will build an example scene throughout the book, each element of which is chosen to demonstrate a variety of principles, and to provide the groundwork for best practices. More than just a tools reference, "Blender Foundations" covers the philosophy behind this ingenious software so many 3D artists are turning to today.

The accompanying web site includes quality renderings and projects from the book so that users can practice on their own alongside. All completed project files will also be available online for examination and re-use. Author will enhance content offering with videos of the trickier tutorials, and a direct link to the Blender download site and forums.

1. "Blender Foundations" helps new and old users alike get started with the ALL NEW features and workflows of the forthcoming: Blender 2.5.

2. Author Roland Hess is one of Blender's original developers. Hess has a track record as the most authoritative and accessible source on Blender. His previous works ("Essential Blender" and "Animating with Blender") are considered the definitive documentation for Blender.

3. "Blender Foundations" offers guidance from start to finish on a valuable real-world project. Hess provides working files at all stages so transitioning users can pick and choose via tool/chapter they want to explore.

4. FREE: A practical, tools-based book on creating professional level, high quality 3D art for FREE - Blender is a free, open source product, which makes it ideal for new users who want to try 3D with little investment, as well as for animation studios that want to increase their capabilities.